SO363: View of Japan as a Child

As a child, Japan was a place I dreamed about going to- an ultimate getaway, a topsy-turvy and whimsical Neverland that I hoped to which I hoped one day to escape. Japan was color, hope, and tradition, it was happiness in a far off dream. I think that there was a part of myself in childhood that imagined Japan as a place where I would finally fit in, a place where I would feel at home. I suppose it's often that children of divorce never feel that they fit in anywhere. While my parents tossed my brother and I across the US every year, my life felt like it held no constant, no thread connecting who I was with my father and who I was with my mother. That's when I found anime.

Perhaps it was an odd thing to glue my life together, but it gave me drive- it expertly tied together my desire to travel, my desire to be far from where I was, and, I thought, my desire to fit in. It's funny looking back on my immature notions of Japan now. Japan was the last place to go to fit in, but it was certainly one of the best to go to get away from where I had been. Still, I realize that the purpose Japan served didn't fit in exactly with my perception of it. When I thought of Japan, I thought of Sailor Moon and Geisha, Ninjas, Samurai, and Temples. One Christmas, my mother bought me a photobook of Japan and I loved it dearly. When I was feeling lonely, depressed, or out of place, I would look through it and close my eyes, imagining that I was Japanese. The pictures that stuck in my head were the busy, bright, and bustling streets of Tokyo, the Golden Temple on the water, gates to Ginjaa, and a young woman practicing kyuudou (Japanese archery). In retrospect, I guess I didn't really think about how those pictures might not have fit together, all I wanted was to be in Japan.

When I came to Japan when I was 13, my image shifted quickly. Japan was still lights and life, but suddenly it was karaoke, shopping, crowded trains, kanji, and courtesy. It was warmth and happiness, like a warm blanket, but it was far from what I had felt originally. Even now, I feel that image warping yet again, as it should be. Still, it makes me wonder if I will ever have a consistent view of Japan- but, I suppose, I don't seek out that consistency as desperately as I did in my childhood, as life is change.

Religion

Back home, religion means everything and nothing to me. It's important to me to ensure that religion doesn't ruin human development, stop environmental protection, violate rights of other religions and the nonreligious- it's something that put me on rocky ground with half my family and gets in the way of too many potential friendships. Sometimes, religion feels like nothing other than an eyesore to me- something that gets in the way of everything. Logically, I know that isn't entirely true. It's funny- normally I feel rather "live and let live" to anything and everything, which is why I'm torn at home on how to react to religion. To anyone that keeps their faith personal and does not condemn me, I love having intellectual conversations and working to benefit others. To anyone who I know is treating me differently because I'm an atheist, I want nothing more than to humble their efforts. It makes me come off as a split personality, but that's just the state of things in the US today.

One of the things that has made me feel most comfortable and welcome here is that they treat religion as, in my opinion, it should be- a personal choice, something to not condemn others over, and something that is not obvious through your every action. My Art and Society teacher (who sort of reminds me of Professor Lazarus from Doctor Who...) was giving a lecture on Buddhism last week and he remarked "Now, do you know of any Buddhist fundamentalists? Who says 'I'm fundamental about the Middle Way!'" It made me laugh at the time, but it really struck a chord with me-- especially when he went on to say "How many of you here have REALLY had a deep conversation about religion with a Japanese person? Or politics for that matter?" Almost on impulse, my hand shot up, but I realized that- although I had a few conversations about not liking Bush, the economy, and North Korea, my religion conversations had been primarily with the other American students in IES. In fact, I've discussed religion quite a lot with Hannah, Nancy, and Mindy- about got into a tiff with a few hardcore Christians even-but the extent of my religious conversation with my host family consisted of defining Quakerism to them (my host sister goes to a private Quaker school, but she's an atheist) and telling them I was no longer a Catholic because, to me, the Bible seemed nothing more than fiction. Still, that was nothing compared to all the conversations I've had with people I've known from the states for a significantly smaller amount of time. My hand slowly sank down.

Then my professor exposed the truth of the matter- "Sunday they think the neighbor's popping out for golf, but really he's gone to save his soul. Drives all the way across Tokyo to go to a church there just to make sure no one he knows he's a God-ie." I smiled at this, even scribbled it down in my notebook because the way he said it in his crisp English accent just reminded me of a one-liner from a Britcom; but I didn't really feel the implications of it until yesterday. On my way back from shopping with Hannah, I heard a small voice call out from behind me in English-"Excuse me! Could you please wait?" I stopped and was shocked to find a young Japanese woman behind me, another young woman and a young boy behind her. "Could I talk to you for just a moment?" Puzzled, I smiled and nodded. She pulled out a flyer and my heart sunk- it was a very prominent picture of the Bible- underneath was information about Bible study (the back is photographed above). Almost on impulse, my body became as stiff as a board when she said "We're Jehovah's Witnesses-," I just nodded, sensing the strain that was probably on my face as I tried to pick which comebacks I would use, "And we would love if you could join us for study. Thank you so much for your time!" I took the flyer, bowed, and smiled at the woman. Walking away, I was actually happy they had come to speak to me. In fact, it made me realize something-- it's the attitude that a lot of American Christians take towards non-Christians that bothers me. It's as if no one should be anything but a Christian- and anyone who is deserves to burn in hell fire. It's offensive and, quite frankly, rather rude and, at least personally, it gets me up in arms. But, these women gave me hope for secularizing society. Here, in a secularized society, these women were still able to do what they feel is a good deed for their religion and there is not one ounce of evil, trickery, or guilt-mongering in it. I suddenly realized why there is not much need for a secular movement here-- it's because this sort of society is what we're aiming for. [Still, on a funny note, like Hannah said-- I can't even seem to get away from Converting!Christians in Japan. haha]

On an interesting side note, it turns out that there are very old tombs of the Japanese Emperor's family which the Japanese refuse to excavate-- why? It's highly suspected that the Royal Family is of Korean origins and, on top of the religious implications (the Emperor is a descendant of the Gods in the Shinto religion- surprised?), the irony is just too much.

Illness

As isn't terribly surprising this time of year, we've been passing a pretty robust cold around the IES students at Meikai. My roommate Hannah has been stricken pretty hard and I'm afraid that I'm starting to come down with it myself. That said, there are actually quite a few differences between American and Japanese demeanor towards sickness.

When I watched the news in the States, I always thought that China was the only country obsessed with wearing masks- but Japan as well finds it almost a act of extreme rudeness for one not to wear a mask when they are sick. The masks are sold everywhere- in all different shapes, colors, and designs, although the traditional plain, white masks are the most popular. One popular line of masks runs ads on the train, which have always rather put me off. "Japan's family mask," they say and I just stare at them every time in amazement- the family all sort of looks like ninjas. Or, perhaps, scream "Watch out for the Zombie Infestation."

That said, the culture is starting to soak into me. I heard a man behind me cough on the train today and was appalled when I turned around and saw he didn't have a mask. Before my mind could even stop myself, I thought "He doesn't know because he is a foreigner." Oh dear; hahaha.

Needless to say, the thought of wearing a mask (and as my friend Nancy brought up, potentially sneezing in one) makes me even more proactive in fighting this cold.

Endo-Ryo and Foreigners

Without a doubt, one of the largest differences between this trip to Japan and my last one is my living arrangements. The way one behaves with a host family and in an apartment is entirely different. On top of this, Endo-Ryo is a special living situation- a 3 bedroom, full bath, kitchen, living room, and dining room in a "mansion," as opposed to others who either have homestay or live in dorms-- where they are fed (unless it's the women's dorm), have a dorm manager, have curfews... But, I suppose, what makes Endo-Ryo the most unique is undoubtedly our landlady, Endo-san.

Endo-san is the antithesis of what you would expect in an old Japanese woman. Quiet? Oh no, think again. Meek? Anything but. Kind? Uhm... well... I'm pretty sure I could tall stories about Endo-san all day and I would not exhaust myself. She mocks us, tries to con us out of money, treats us like children, pries into our business, comes in unannounced, and is simply not the happiest woman to be around. Endo-san has the authority to come visit all the time because she is supposed to clean our common areas-- not to say she has done anything but take out the trash. On top of this, she has an annoying amount of storage left in the house- closets, bookcases, shelves full of her things. Still, it would appear that past residents have had far more problems with her than we have. Overall, we are pretty cleanly, heading warnings from previous residents.

Still, the mansion is great- from the balcony, we can see the ferris wheel at Odaiba, the fireworks at Disneyland, a river, wide fields... Not to mention, it is in a convenient location. On top of this, I love my roommates, SeungYe and Hannah. While all of us are, in our own ways, antisocial at home, it is working out splendidly. It is also amazing how many foreigners are in the area as well- Hannah and I have seen to creating our extensive (politically incorrect) catalog:

African Steve- Tall, lanky guy that hit on me a few weeks ago and started the naming of foreigners.

Blonde Sally- A woman we saw waiting to cross the road on a bike

Arabian Al- A nice looking Middle Eastern Guy that often is at the station at the same time as us

Nigerian Pete- Possibly the same person as African Steve; eyed Hannah up.

Lanky David- A tall guy that we saw at the station in Gyotoku

Model Craig- One of those guys you expect to see in an Abercrombie ad

Bernie Mac- He looks like Bernie Mac.

American Mary/Sue- Hannah and I

Strong-looking Anthony- A guy with poofy blonde hair on the train that was beefy

Yep- True Story. As fun as it is to name all the foreigners, I think it truly speaks volumes that we CAN name the foreigners-- people that would simply blend in to any crowd in America become something novel, something mezurashii (Yep, 'novel' in Japanese). This has no exception when it comes to either Hannah or I either- whether it's simple, interested stares on the trains, heckling by other English speakers on the street, or people going out of our way to avoid us, there is never any lack for feeling different. No amount of hair dye, brown contacts, style change, and tanning will help it either- from our noses to our face shapes, we are incapable of blending in. One of my most interesting collisions with being foreign happened the other day, on my way home from working with my host mother at her bread shop. A seemingly normal man in his 50's passed us on the street, and, as is customary when you meet people's eyes, he greeted us. However, apparently one greeting did not suffice- suddenly this man was in my face, standing inches from me, fear gluing me in place. "Hello! Good morning! America! Hello!" Over and over again, the chain of broken English greetings inched him closer and closer to me, to the point where he was almost touching me- my host mother pulled me away and we walked home, but the experience shook me. "It's because you're a foreigner- you're cute and you're a novelty." My host mother told me, "That brings out strange men like him." Normally, I don't mind sticking out of the crowd, but here, some days I feel like I would do anything to blend in.

Most likely, from here on out, blog posts will be themed instead of day by day descriptions. I get too far behind. @.@

SO363: Most Striking Aspect of Japan thus Far

When Americans are asked to think about Japan, their views have surely came a long way from just ninja, samurai, geisha, and kimono- based a whole deal on globalization, America's fear of the Japanese economy becoming stronger than our own, and the rise in popularity of anime and manga. Typically, most stereotypes about a people are erased from mind and opinion base once one knows first hand- and I had expected that I myself would serve as no exception. Having been to Japan before, I had worked through a lot of my initial shock already- the tendency to skirt around answers, the constant need for conformity, public area cleanliness, extreme kindness, and perfect work ethic. Upon arrival here, I was greeted with things far too familiar to be shocking- whilst everyone else's faces lit up with extreme awe and wonder, I sought desperately to find my memories again.

My retrace started when I first entered Tokyo again, my heart throbbing at the sight of people packed tightly, the endless and chaotic mess of the city that I had waited so long to return to. Nothing could have contained me, as my heart was beating too loud as I stepped off the train in Shinjuku, a station I had came to everyday for a month in order to get to school. I left the station and found myself on the other side of a nearly unrecognizable Shinjuku and, with my falty, crumbling memory, I began to look so desperately for the building where my classes were held. After hours of wandering, I finally stood in front of a complete perversion of what had appeared in my mind- an old, plain, graffiti covered building in what had to of been the most dangerous area I had seen of Shinjuku. My chest felt tight, my heart heavy- it was as if the soul had been sucked out of my childhood. Still, the largest blow to my memory was dealt when I went to stay Silver Week with my old host family, whom I had loved so much.

There were so many things that were the same about them- in fact, there could never have been any mistake as to them being the same people. Rather, what had changed so much was my perspective of the world and what I noticed chilled me straight to the core. At the Odaiba beach, my host sisters ran around with childish spirit, my host father took pictures of Tokyo Bridge, and my host mother pointed out ships, buildings, bridges, and people, teaching me about them. I was surprised when she turned to me and caught my eye, saying "Is Steve kind?" I smiled softly, I barely had to think on such a thing- of course my boyfriend was kind. When her eyes caught my smile, they drifted back to the water of the Tokyo Bay, her voice becoming soft, "He's so cold to me... he is kind to others, but he is so cold to me." Suddenly, I finally saw what had been hinted at through her actions for years- my host mother was lonely, subservient, and trapped- she had been stripped of her soul. To an American, their soul is there personality, their livelihood their own individuality, but my host mother has but a glimmer of it left. Any desires she had held outside of what society deemed as appropriate were gone, only fragments of memories, not so far from mine crushed so easily at the sight of new Shinjuku. Then again, by no means was it only her. No, society had stripped Japanese adults of their souls and filled the hole with labor.

I once read somewhere that Japanese people are mechanical- that everything was so stiff and regimented, soulless. Always a large fan of anime and manga, I could see the soul in Japan- the beautiful emotions through its media. However, the majority of anime and manga, in retrospect, only grant such emotions to people younger than 30 and- the majority of the time- under 20, far before work should become the focal point of one's life. Americans occasionally get caught up in their jobs as they become older-- but they don't become their jobs. Faced with this new feeling I have, it pains me.

Second Half of Week 2- Entrance Ceremony, Vegan Healing Cafe, and Lazy Saturday

Thursday

Today ended up being quite the photo-op and the Entrance Ceremony was actually pretty cool. Mindy got to give the speech at the Ceremony (we all suspect that she got the highest score on the exam-- which wouldn't be a surprise! She's very amazing! =]). Post ceremony, we all went to our usual food court hang-out, this time with a few others in tow. Eventually, conversation turned to one on religion and, although it was very comfortable to discuss with the majority of the table, one girl left me feeling rather uncomfortable. Not wanting to start an argument, I went back to the house and started to watch an anime I heard about from Shanis at the Entrance Ceremony, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. That pretty much shot the rest of the day for me.

Friday

Everyone was more than nervous today- the day that we got placed. The teachers guided us through a mock class and finally, about 2 and a half hours of this, they announced our placements. Five students got into 5, none into 4, 10 into 3, and 10 into 2. I was most relieved when my name was called for 3, the class I am supposed to be in, anyway. It's a little scary, though. Shanis, who is a year ahead of me at UR only got into 3 as well. It makes me wonder about how well 200 advances one back home. Very nerve wracking. I hope I can compare. Hannah will be in 3 with me, though, so it will be nice to have someone to study with.

After Japanese, we were supposed to start Architecture, but, due to Instructor illness, the class was cancelled. Thus, I decided, today would be a good day to go buy the Vegan Restaurant handbook that Vegan Japan puts out. But, in order to do so, I had to go to one of the restaurants that they listed on their website. Thus, Nancy, Hannah, and I went to Shibuya to "Vegan Healing Cafe."

Well, by the time we got there, we were very hungry, because, as I'm sure you can guess, I got us lost on the way again by pointing us in the completely opposite direction... yeah. >>; I felt really bad, too, since Hannah was in heels. Well, when we got there, I was really excited. It was a small cafe and it promised to provide me nutrients and... well... uh... I don't know why I ever imagined that "Vegan Healing Cafe" would taste delectable... or even terribly edible. In fact, if I wasn't starving, I think I would have sad. The hot chocolate was... bitter... and the blueberry cake was... dry? And the meal was... alright? It was very... wholesome? It was very... healthy? Overall, interesting exprience, I must say. Hopefully, the places with fake meat will be a little better.

Parked outside was a PETA van, which was terribly amusing to me-- although I'm not a big PETA fan myself. They have bad tactics. Then, we saw a guy dressed as a candy bar, walking around... with a man, giving out flyers. So strange. @_@

Saturday

Today was the upmost laziest day I had here. I seriously sat around watching Higurashi no naku koro ni for most of the day and finally went to Seiyu Gyotoku for a change of pace (It's the Wal*Mart branch that's a 20 minute walk instead of a 10 minute one...). I went in hopes that they would have a more extensive selection of, well, everything. What I did find is that they had quart-sized cartons of acerola juice and, really, apart from that, not a horribly impressive selection. I did get quite a few vegetables, though, and prepared a soup with them. The soup ended up making a mean topping for the rice. Another thing I ran into at the store was this- peanut butter... it's practically odd here. They have this stuff called "peanut cream" which is pretty cheap, but I really had little interest in trying. The peanut butter that they did have was smaller than an average Skippy jar and about $4. It was a little disheartening.

Endo-san came over after all of us had eaten, took nail polish that prior IES students had left behind, was her usually rough self, and left. She seems to really like SeungYe, which is funny, since SeungYe seems to tune her out the most and respond to her the least. haha.

First half of Week 2 in Tokyo- Meikai Tours/Placement Test/Alien Registration/LaLa Port

Monday

Today was pretty dull, actually. We gathered at KUIS this morning and went through Academics orientation. Pretty much, we were told to show up to our classes and that we were not permitted to drop below 15 credits NOR could we drop Japanese. Hannah and I both elected to add a third IES area course, as IES permits us to have up to 19 credits. Thus, my official schedule is:

M,T,R,F 9-12:10- Japanese

M 2-4:40- Japanese Society and Culture

R 2-4:40- Japanese Art and Society

F 2-4:40- Architecture and Urban Planning

Everything, with the exception of Architecture, starts on the week of the 14th. Apart from that, we were taken around Shin-Urayasu and Meikai with some of the E-Pals. After we ate at the food court, a few of us (Nancy, Mindy, SeungYe, Hannah, and myself) went to the 100 yen store, the bank, the bus pass window, a cake shop, and back to our house to study. SeungYe wasn't feeling very well and nancy had forgotten to sign up for the Tokyo Tour on Sunday, so we called Watanabe-san. The five of us didn't study too much, but ended up having a pretty good time. Shin-san came around and fixed our wireless, but my computer still doesn't want to pick up on it (which, as Hannah says, is rather funny since I have a netbook)

Tuesday

Today was the big placement test. It was broken up into three different parts- listening, reading, and the "interview." The listening wasn't too difficult, the reading was, in the first half, a joke and in the second a terror, and the interview was... well, I just can't say I really know what to say when people ask me to tell them about what I think about Japanese as compared to American culture and what I think about the state of the world in my mother tongue, let alone my second language. It really caught me off guard. Overall, I felt really disheartened by the exam.

Tonight, Endo-san came over as well and is now making us seperate our own garbage. I mean, it's not that big of a deal, but we're worried about how many of the duties she is supposed to do by contract that she is going to fork over to us. I'm not her biggest fan because, regardless of me trying to communicate with her, she mocks my Japanese (like repeats me verbatim in a mocking tone). It's a little disheartening. She asked SeungYe and I about what our parents did and is offering to make us Yakisoba. It makes us all nervous though, because we don't know if she'll charge us or not. We'd all rather not get in that situation.

Wednesday

Break! What a fun break it was too! I'm looking forward to having Wednesdays off this semester. Although, it's a bummer Mindy won't. In the morning, Hannah and I went to get our Aleing Registration cards in Gyotoku. It was a pretty simple walk, but my map dyslexia kicked in and, well, I kinda didn't have us turn when we were supposed to again. A minor setback, but I still really need to learn how to read a map. When we got to the office, Hannah realized she forgot her passport. Also, SeungYe had some problems with the office telling her that the IES provided pictures were too small... but they told Hannah that they were the right size. Nevertheless, they took my US passport-sized pictures. On the way back, the two of us saw Mountain Dew in a vending machine and, getting terribly excited, bought some.

When we came back, SeungYe joined us and we left to go the the largest mall in Chiba (only a stop away!) Too bad we got on the wrong train... We ended up getting stared at even more there! It must be it was even more odd to have foreigners at that stop than it was at Ichikawa. When we got to Minimi-Funabashi, we apologized profusely to Mindy (who had been waiting) and went into LaLa Port (yes. LaLa Port. Yeaaah) There were so many shops o-o; It was amazing. The most amazing, surprisingly, was the Disney Store.

Unlike in America, the Disney store here had a lot of useful goods for adults. Aprons, hats, chopsticks, cell phone charms, bags, etc... and it was a million times more adorable than normal Disney stuff. Don't ask me how, but they managed it. Yeah. So, I bought Halloween Disney cell phone charms... they are adorable pumpins that look like Mickey... ^^;

On our way out, we stopped at a Crepe shop and dined out outside across from Ketucky Fried Chicken. They have a "Kenta-kun" outside almost all of the "Kenchiki"s here- and by that I mean, a statue of the Coronel. Yep. So we posed with him. Yeahhh. I love being dorks.

Tomorrow, we have an entrance ceremony. I wonder if it will be interesting... Hannah and I were talking tonight about how they always seem so boring in anime! Hope it's not that way!

Weekend 1 in Tokyo- Shinjuku and Shibuya

So, with my infinitely awesome skills of updating everyone on what I'm doing, I'll update here about last Saturday and Sunday.

Shibuya

So, the roomies and I decided that it was time to explore. The three of us disembarked to Shibuya and, me, feeling pretty awesome about being to Tokyo before, took the reigns on leading them through the stations. For the record, from Tokyo station take the Yamanote line towards Shinjuku to get to Shibuya. =]

That went pretty well, but my problem with... er... disorientation got the better of me out in Shibuya itself. Haha.

So, the three of us went to First Kitchen and ate our potato/pasta sets (mmm... carbs with a side of carbs?! AWESOME!) and then split up to shop. The most interesting things were:

1) CUTENESS EVERYWHERE!- Alright... so, I think the reason I love Japan is because it is so f$@*ing adorable. Everything from headbands to socks, signs to toilets are downright addorable.

2) MJ and Obama- While Hannah and I were walking around, we found two statues in close proximity... one of MJ and another of Obama. Also, a lot of store fronts had MJ music playing, etc. o-o;

3) Banks?- It appears, for the record, that finding an atm that takes an American Visa is more of a feat than originally imagined. Pretty much, the post office, 7-11, and Citi bank are the only consistent places that take American issued debit cards. Furthermore, it's not the easiest to use credit cards most places. Interesting, non? Hannah and I ended up getting lost, thanks to my map dyslexia, leading to number 4.

4) Seedy Sex Shops...o-o; Some things never change, I guess. When I got us off the beaten path from map dyslexia, we encountered some interesting shops... the most amusing of which, by the way, had two signs that cracked us up- one said "So fucking cheap" (in regards to vibrators) and the other "We love toys that fuck." That is soooo awkward. Yes, it said it in English. o-o;

5) Pallette Town!?- So, on the way back home, we encountered a huge beautifully lit ferris wheel. I can't say I've always been the largest fan of ferris wheels, but I really, really want to see the view from this one. It's the tallest one in Japan. Definitely on my list of things to conquer while I'm here.

Shinjuku

On Sunday, Hannah and SeungYe were tired and, well, I was out a camera cord. Seeing a chance to get to return to Shinjuku for not only a camera, but also to see all the places I knew so well from 6 years ago warmed my heart. I set out right after getting off the phone with Steve on what I figured would be a short jaunt. Well, I ended up being out for about 7 hours. It was truly an interesting day.

On my walk to the station, I made eye contact with a colored man who was, naturally, a foreigner. Knowing how much I dislike being stared at by other foreigners, I kept my eyes to the ground, although still rather surprised to see a foreigner in my quiant town of Ichikawa-shiohama. When he passed me, I noticed him looking at me out of the corner of his eye, to which I naturally looked up. "Hello." He said, startling me. "Hi." I respond. He stops and grins from ear to ear. "Where are you from?" He asks, his eyes doing a ridiculously obvious and slow full body scan of me. "New York." He grins and says "I'm from Africa. You're a beautiful girl. What is your name?" I laugh nervously and say "Kara, what's yours?" I extend my hand for him to shake, feeling awkward about it. He then paused an awkwardly long time and, after a few beats of awkward silence, he grinned, shook my hand and said "Steve." (To which my obvious thought is wtf) He then decides that this is a good time to "exchange numbers," to which I decide it's a good time to lie about not having a phone. But, he "lives around here," his company is right by the station, and we will surely "meet again." Woo. ><

After my encounter with African Steve, I ran off to Shinjuku and decided to find the Yotsuba Camera shop, a very famous one in Japan. Ok, holy shit, those cameras are expensive. I set my spending limit at 10,000 yen (100 dollars) and I don't think I could have even bought a camera bag in there for that little. Disheartned, I began to walk around Shinjuku in hopes of finding the building I used to go to class in. Well, I ended up finding a lot of interesting things due, once again, to map dyslexia;

1) Olympic Pep Rally- I ended up at the Tokyo Municipal Gov't buildings and they were holding a... pep rally (?) for the Olympics (to host in 2016). There was a man giving a speech, banners all around [They all say "Because it's Japan, we can do it! New Olympics!"] and then on the next street up, there were all these children dance performance groups, performing in honor of being a hopeful for the 2016 Olympics. It was... interesting. Japan REALLY wants the Olympics. DESPERATELY. These banners are all over.

2) I found a Costume Museum! It was Sunday and, thus, closed, but I will totally go back ><;

3)I... walked... to Shibuya ward... >_>; I found a lot of cool buildings and think I actually saw more of Shinjuku than I did when I went there everyday 6 years ago.

4) I found where I used to go to class, but it had become really run down. It was a little depressing. A lot of the shops I used to go to were gone. A ramen shop, a book store, and a few restaurants that I truly enjoyed have gone out of business. A lot of graffitti was on all of the signs in the area. The bank where I exchanged all my American money at was out of business. Yeah.

5) I ate Indian food! I had a conversation with a Japanese waitress before going in and ensured that I could eat something... it was really, really good food. Considering I mostly eat rice and seaweed at home, it was very nice.

6) I found a garden on top of a department store! =D

On my way back to the station, my map dyslexia worked out for the best again. I was all turned around and went by a Nikon shop. I thought that I wouldn't be able to buy anything and that cameras in Japan were simply expensive, but I went in anyway. There was only a small digital camera section, but, there it was- and it was perfect. Sure, second-hand and pink, but it was the Nikon Coolpix S60 10 megapixel face-recognition, touch screen camera that retails for over $200 in the states- for exactly $100. I love my camera- and just when I'd given up on getting one too! I felt so proud of myself, buying it in Japanese and everything. I really think I'm starting to get acclimated to Japan again. It's truly nice.

Alright... now to blog about the next 7 days ;p

Japan-Week 1 (Orientation for KUIS and Meikai)

Alright, so in the interest of laziness, I will summarize the rest of the week.

Orientation

For the most part, Orientation was dull. It was mostly policies, etc, nothing terribly exciting. Still, I love the IES staff and the students in my program are pretty cool too. For the most part, Orientation consisted of:

1) What to do when there is a earthquake, etc? (EVACUATE! HIDE!!!) [On a more interesting note, one of the lecturers said to us yesterday "I really hope you can experience earthquake in Japan."]

2) What not to do (Do not ride bike unless you're really good at it, don't eat while walking, don't talk on public transportation... and, especially don't ride a skateboard because the last guy who did "broke his skateboard... and his legs too.")

3) Communication issues ("In Japan, no means yes sometimes and yes means no.")

4) Money? (Pretty much cash is always the best idea and you can use the ATM at the post office for the cheapest.)

5)Alein Registration (GET A CARD! RAWR!!!)

We took a train one night and got dinner in Shin Urayasu (apparently they mash up meat in even their vegetable curry here. It's in the sauce?! I had to get spaghetti) and toured KUIS campus another day (the roof of the library has a path on it... and grass. They have grass on the roof.)

Karaoke

A few of us went Karaoke'ing the other night~! There is a place called Cote d'Azur close to OVTA and across from Kahin Makuhari station. At first we could only find english disney songs... including "Go the Distance-" the Japanese version (the only thing in english is "go the distance") and a techno beat version of "A whole new world." Yeahhhh... So, we figured out that you can not only change the key, but the tempo as well. So, we sang Barbie Girl as quickly as possible... it was awesome. haha (We had to leave so Tate picked the fastest song he saw and then we speed it up and all 5 of us sang.) We were really glad to find the paper catalogue because, at first, we only saw the electornic one... it was difficult to get around @.@

Endo-Ryo

So, on Thursday, Seung, Hannah, and I moved into Endo-ryo. All the staff made us a bit nervous with preparations for moving in- Kudo-san, Watanabe-san, and Shin-san all came up to us and asked "Have you been told about Endo-san yet?" So, in addition to things I had heard from Sarah before (she likes for things to be kept clean, don't touch her stuff, she likes to gossip), the IES staff warned that Endo-san likes to do favors for students and then charge them. Furthermore, she's terribly nosy and speaks very roughly.

Hannah, Seung, and I split up the rooms before we got here (I have the master bedroom facing the highway) and the apartment is, overall, very nice. We had a bit of a fiasco right from the start, however. We were to arrive Thursday afternoon and, despite Endo-san knowing this, when we got here, she wasn't around. Furthermore, Endo-san keeps the keys (since we essentially sublet from her) and so, we couldn't get into our room. Watanabe-san apologized again and again, calling a lot of different people and knocking on Endo-san's door repeatedly. Eventually, she went down to the lobby and Seung, Hannah, and I just laughed nervously and waited.

After about 30 minutes of this fiasco, a sturdy Japanese woman in her 50's came up to us, speaking loudly and in rough (borading male's language) Japanese. She asked us why we weren't inside and where Watanabe was. I replied that she was in the lobby, to which she asked which one and I replied the lobby of the building we were in. She apparently didn't like or understand this answer and went to the door, pushing it open and saying "See? It's been open all along! You should just go in." All of us were quite shocked and a little confused as to whether or not this was Endo, as she kept referring to herself in third person as "Endo-san." (It turns out, for the record, it was). Eventually, Watanabe-san returned with the building manager. Endo-san told the building manager that she was busy and had just left the door unlocked for us- Watanabe responded that since it is not her house, she did not feel comfortable just entering, let along trying the door handle. This set the tone for the rest of the evening.

We all then gathered at the kitchen table and had a discussion about the rules and an awkward introduction session with Endo-san. She eventually asked me what I ate and was quite shocked by vegetarianism. She then told us that she could only cook for Seung (even though Hannah eats fish? Interestingly, when Hannah also explained she was a vegetarian, she asked her if she ate ham... which was espeically odd, since Hannah was wearing a Star of David. Is it possible she doesn't know about Jewish culture?). Endo-san left and we began to get settled, but she came back later that night and made all of our beds.

I guess she came back last night and Hannah was the only one around at that point. She kept asking Hannah "Where are the others?" To which Hannah kept telling her we were asleep. I guess despite the fact that Hannah told her three times I was sleeping, Endo-san knocked on my door and opened it anyway, surprised to find... me asleep. She also demanded a copy of our semester calender in Japanese (we only have them in English) and for us to tell her what we're doing for Silver Week (vacation from 9/19-23). Eek! Hopefully she isn't over every night. It makes us all a bit nervous.

Shopping

Shopping! So, for groceries, we went to the local Seiyu which, to my surprise is... *drum roll* the Japanese division of Wal*Mart >>;; We mostly just got rice and noodles.

Then, yesterday, Hannah and I went to Carrefour (French version of... *drum roll* Wal*Mart) and the mall attached to it. Hannah got adorable bento and change purses and I got about 100 dollars worth of clothing. The most interesting thing is actually the fitting rooms. You need to take your shoes off as you go in. Also, before you enter, you give the clothing the the attendant who removed the hangers... And then, the face covers. Yeah. So, you place this mosquito-netting mask over your face, put the shirt on, and remove it... yeah. Face masks. In order not to get make-up on the clothing. Yeah.

Alright! That's it for now! Going to Shibuya with the roommies! =D

Japan- Week 1 (Trip over)

Hey everyone! So, I know it's been a while, but getting settled here took longer than I anticipated. Luckily, I've been keeping a written diary as well, so I can give you pretty accurate renditions of this week :3

August 31/September 1st

I arrived at the airport at Dad's insisting 2 hours and 15 minutes early... I was through check in/security in 15 minutes. (ahaha) The flight from LAX to Seattle was non-eventful and waiting in Seattle proved rather uneventful too, save for I had to go to terminal D to get food, as N had nothing for me to eat (the transit takes about 10 minutes between terminals). I bought some gifts in Seattle for people in Japan and hurried onto the plane. My seat was right behind the exit row (which had gratutious amounts of space) and I missed my chance to move up to it and would later regret this.

I was reading "How the Mind Works" with my earplanes in, shortly before take-off, when the Japanese man next to me asked me to open the window all the way so that he could see at take-off. Well, this turned out opening to things more than just a window.

Takahiro (Or TK- as his Japanese name is supposedly too difficult for me to pronounce, KT is a girl's name, and his business partners call him by his last name but that's not "fun enough for me") ended up to be quite the interesting seat partner. He gave me his business card and, following Japanese protocol, I asked a question in regards to it. I was not prepared for the onslaught. He proceeded to talk to me about everything- how he was a producer, a screen writer, walked on the red carpet at the Cannes in 2000, a copyright law student in Albany, a world traveler who bought all his plane tickets with miles, quit a big company 2 years ago and had an immense personal fortune but nothing to spend it on (hint hint?), his "Jewish lawyer friend," the sushi bar in Seattle that he spent $10,000 at, his "strong stomach" for alcohol, how easy English was for him but how difficult Japanese was for me... and that's not even the start of it.

This guy is allegedly taking me to Tsukiji fish market ("Oh! Vegetarian? They have vegetable rolls."), a fancy restaurant ("You would look very beautiful, I think, if your hair was not in your face."), Fancy hotel next to the US embassy ("People do not know about it. Only important people can get in."), Geisha in Tokyo ("You would be wonderful in Kimono."), Okinawa ("there are many beaches and we can go to onsen (public hot springs)")...Eek!

I mean, this guy released a movie the year I was born! Out of the 10 hr trip, TK talked to me (yes. talked to me. There was nothing about it that was a discussion. Just him rambling) for at least 5 hours of it. It would have been more if I hadn't fake slept for 3 of those hours and watched Doctor Who for 1.5. Also, he mirrored my actions... if I faked sleeping, so did he. If I ate my salad, so did he. If I watched TV or the Map, so did he. If I popped my ears, so did he... and even if we weren't talking at the time. Needless to say, it was nice to see Tokyo. But! The scariest this is, he has my email address. I felt rude not giving it to him at the beginning of the conversation when he gave his business card. Oh! And he has emailed me, but I've been too nervous to open it... =/

Apart from that, the rest of the evening went wonderfully! Customs and immigration were easy enough to pass through and I met some really fun people. We had a small party when we got to IES, but I was too tired to stay long. Soooo... :3

Honestly, the oddest thing when I first landed was the fact that there is no DST- so the sun is up by 5:30 am and down by 6:00 pm.

California Bound

The first leg of my trip officially started. Steve and I woke up rather early this morning and finished with packing, spent some time watching comedy online, and then it was off to the airport. Taxi costed $20, Bags costed $80, which was actually a $55 dollar improvement on what was originally going to happen. Because I wasn't flying straight to Japan, the weight limit on my first bag was 50 pounds and it weighed 87.5. The attendant suggested I go buy a new bag at a store in departures, so that I avoid the $125 fee for a bag nearly 38 pounds overweight. Thus, we went downstairs and bought a $30 duffel and proceeded to throw the food I had purchased for Japan into it, in addition to my medicine bag. My first bag was $20 to check and the second was $30. Needless to say, I should have bought the food in California.

That said, we are allowed two bags to Japan- with a weight limit of 70 lbs. Got to board. More later. =]

t-9

So, an update from last time- all visas are cleared for the year (thanks Sarah! [check her awesomely helpful blog out btw.]) That said, I checked the tracking number today and my visa is in the mail. Sadly, I won't receive it until our post office opens on Monday, but at least I'll have it. I'm glad I was stressed out about nothing.

Speaking of things that are going to be here by Monday, it would appear that my cell phone from PicCell will be arriving then too, despite my best efforts to cancel. They called me the other day and told me they couldn't deliver to my "P.O." box, to which I informed them it was different and that all the major companies that "don't deliver to P.O. boxes" delivered to CPU boxes (College Postal Union). When the man insisted I give him another address, I told him I didn't have one and would have to cancel if they couldn't deliver it. He put me on hold and came back on the phone, claiming it would be at my CPU box by Monday. I asked him about the plan and he reassured me that there was no monthly charge, just charges for outgoing calls and texts. Hoping this is so.

Oh! So, the other day (I think Tuesday?), IES sent out the housing assignments. No word on who my roommates are yet. I'm sure they'll be cool. A lot of people on my facebook group haven't responded. Also, no one, it would seem yet, is on the same flight as me... It's all good. A lot of books to read =D

Until then, I have work until Tuesday and Steve offered to drive me home Wednesday. Hopefully everything works out. I go to California next Friday. Crazy.

t-14 till take off

My COE finally came today and I turned around and sent it in straight away for my visa. Interestingly, my visa will clear my stay in Japan up through next July. Interesting, seeing as I'm leaving Japan in December. No time to send it back and get one only cleared for half a year, though, so I guess I'm looking at the ability to stay however long I want over there (sadly, I have already bought all my tickets, including the one back to Pittsburgh on December 28th, so it's not lookign like a return to Japan is really plausible). That said, I'm just happy to have my COE in, considering that two weeks from this very moment, I will be in transit for Japan. The thought truly sends chills up my spine.
Oh! So, an interesting note- express mail both ways ended up costing me about 32 dollars. It was quite the blow. Perhaps no visa fees, but it definitely felt like there were. I guess it was better than the alternative costs- flying to New York, missing a day or two of work, and getting my visa there. That said, I'm crossing my fingers that this will be back by next Thursday, seeing as next Friday morning I leave to see my family in California. It looks like next Wednesday I will be visiting my family in PA, if ever so briefly.
So nervous... wah! I'm sure you'll hear from me soon.

July Developments

Alright, so since my last update, a lot of things have happened. So, I'll go with them in order of when I figured them out.

COE

So, here's the details of my particular case. As I live in Rochester, NY, my local consulate is the New York City Consulate in which... well, it's not particularly local for me and I wasn't exactly looking forward to buying airfare, hostel stays, and food just to apply for my visa. So, I contacted IES, who redirected me to the NYC consulate. They were VERY helpful, and I was especially impressed when I realized that most of the information was already on their website and they could have just redirected me there. However, for your information, I'll post it here as well.
First of all, if you live outside of NYC, you DO NOT have to report to the consulate, which is very nice for saving time and money. Here are the instructions for obtaining your visa:

1) Complete and Sign an Application Form (Download). Note that even lines that have NOTHING to do with you must have "n/a" or "none" written on them. If you have court records, they must be included.
2) Download the release of liability form (Download) and fill it out completely
3)Buy a U.S. Express Mail self-addressed stamped envelope with completed express mailing label and the postage
4)Take your valid passport (that is fine for 6 months past when you are leaving Japan), a 2 inch square photograph taken within the past 6 months, your self labeled envelope, liability waver, and COE (the original and one photocopy)and ship them the materials through the US Postal Service (and ONLY through USPS) to:

Consulate-General of Japan in New York
299 Park Avenue 18th Floor, New York, NY 10171

5) At the moment, we are exempt from Visa fees and processing is estimated to take 4-7 days.

Yep.

PicCell

IES requires all students to have a cell phone. Well, getting a cell for Japan is a little bit of a headache, but what I found is that PicCell actually offers a pretty good deal... that is, if you're not bent on getting something fancy. In that case, you could still rent a pretty cheap SIM card from them. Personally, I'm only going to get the cell to make IES happy and really don't intend to use it. It's Skype for me. =] The 30 dollar one time activation fee is really all I intend to pour into this thing. But, here's where I got my phone.

Dorms and Strict Vegetarianism

Well, I got to thinking about how strict of a vegetarian I am and how odd it would be if they could actually place me in a homestay without placing a strain on some generous family or a strain on my diet. So, I let IES know that I am close to being a vegan. I received a frantic call from IES the next day, asking if that meant I didn't eat fish in any form. I found this interesting, since I thought expressing that I was a vegetarian on my application would have made this obvious. However, it apparently is not obvious. So, if you are applying through IES and do not intend to compromise, tell them you are a vegan. If you are a pescetarian or are willing to eat fish, noting vegetarian is not such a bad idea.
Their first solution to this was that I obviously could not be placed in a homestay and they immediately placed me in the KUIS Women's dorm. In ways, this was a cool situation to land in, in other ways, not so much. Suddenly, I had to budget 3,500 dollars for food and I had a strict curfew to return by 11 pm every night. I understood that it was different than America, but just the fact that the Get Set! handbook noted that they were very stringent with women annoyed me something awful. While the private room, bathroom, and kitchen were all nice assets, I cannot say that I was particularly hurt when I received news from Beth on Friday that they couldn't place me in KUIS, as it's for Society and Culture students only. Now it looks like I'll be in endo-ryo. If the pictures I have found of endo-ryo are accurate, I think I would rather be there anyway.

E-Pal

Oh! I applied for the e-pal program and got an email from Maika Sato, my epal. She sent me a short email and I kind of responded a little epically... I think I might have overwhelmed her. haha. Still, it was very nice to get an email from Japan! The closer I get, the more real it feels to me. It's crazy to think that in a little over a month, I'll be back in the country I left 6 years ago.

Well, that's it for now!

Mid-Summer Update

Alright, so, there is no doubt about the fact that this blog has been on an essential hiatus, and, well, I guess there hasn't been much in the way of developments. I still have yet to hear anything new from IES Tokyo, gotten in any sticky situations, etc, etc, etc. That said, I do want to make another plug for a great aid in my travel- STA Travel (www.statravel.com). My trip to Japan currently consists of the following legs with their respective prices:
Aug 28 2009 Rochester-Los Angeles, 122.00
Aug 31 2009 Los Angeles-Seattle, Seattle-Narita 627.00
Dec 20 2009 Narita-Los Angeles 889.00

I obviously still have to buy my bridge back to the east (which is dependent on what my significant other is doing for New Year's... whether I meet him or go home will be decided by the end of the month. I am anticipating about 150-200 dollars more in plane tickets, based on where I am going). Needless to say, STA has made my travel very resonable, especially considering: a) roundtrip tickets to Japan typically cost in surplus of $2,000 b)The time of year I am coming back home is a VERY heavy travel time. So, apart from that shout out, I'm just glad I finally remembered which email I put this blog under =) Expect an update from me as soon as I know where I am staying/when I know the action I need to take when I get my COE.

Upgrading to Full Year Status

As a disclaimer, I would simply like to mention that this post is mostly for information purposes only, as I have decided against taking this route. However, as I have seemed to have fished out all information possible, I would like to make sure it doesn't go completely for naught.
Upgrading to full year status, extending my term from Fall 2009 to Full year 2009-2010 in Tokyo was essentially as easy as just mentioning something. I asked Beth Eustis if I could upgrade and she basically told me to send her an email from my college saying it was fine and then she would upgrade me. The upgrade itself took about a week, mostly because it took 3 days or so for my school to get back to IES. In this time, though, I did a lot of thinking. First off, I had almost made the decision from my gut to upgrade to the entire year, barely thinking it out at all. I had the opportunity to sit and think-- did I want to be essentially stranded in Japan from December 20th until March 25th with no guarenteed housing or cash flow? No, I decided, there were too many potential problems.
Even though my visa would be fine during this time, I would most likely need to get special permission to work during this time. Furthermore, even though I was staying in a homestay, they would have no obligation to the program to keep me and, thus, I would have no idea if I should continue to stay and bum off of them during this time or if I would need to somehow arrange to live somewhere for four months. The only other option would be to return to the States during this time and get a job, if only for a little while. However, roundtrip airfare would cost at least $1200 and I had no interest in returning to find a job in my small hometown in the very off season. So, I thought, how does one avoid this gap? IES Nagoya.
I emailed Beth concerning admission to Nanzan, to which she replied the following:

You may indeed apply to the Nagoya program for Spring 2010 if you wish, but please know that you would not receive an admission decision from Nanzan University until about halfway through the fall semester. You would also have to return to the US during your semester break to get a new visa for the spring program since Nanzan’s Certificate of Eligibility (required for the visa) would not be issued until late fall. You can if you wish call the Japanese consulate now and explain that you are considering doing two different programs in Japan fall and spring, affiliated with two different universities and issuing two different Certificates of Eligiility. Ask if there is any way you could extend your fall semester visa once you are in Japan. I am not sure that they will do this but you can ask. Otherwise you would need to be back in the US in December to get your visa for Nagoya.

If you do decide to apply for Nagoya, please let me know because there is an extensive supplemental application required by Nanzan that we will need to mail to you. It is due back to us no later than August 3, 2009. Since this program fills early it is a good idea to submit the application well before the deadline.

Personally, I am pleased with coming back to UofR for the Spring semester, but I thought I would provide this information for those interested.

Introduction and Acceptance

Hello, my name is Kara Finley and I'm a sophomore at the University of Rochester with a Japanese major, a Mathematics minor, and , hopefully, a Comparative Literature minor with a focus in German literature. I hope to keep this blog for not only my family and friends to keep up with my experiences, but to also serve as an information source to individuals interested in taking the IES Tokyo Language Intensive Program at Meikai University in Urayasu, Tokyo and as a further source for Vegetarians in Tokyo. Obviously, I won't be able to address the latter until I am in Tokyo.

Application Process

My school is actually a partner of IES, so my application went through more than smoothly. At the U of R, anyway, I had to submit a proposal for Study Abroad by early February and wait a few days for the go ahead from my school. After getting this, I proceeded to fill out the very simple application (not even an essay involved) and was reminded very often by IES what was missing from my file. Apart for the application, which I filled out online, I had to send in a letter from my Japanese Professor detailing my Japanese proficiency, a recommendation from the Study Abroad office saying I was permitted by the school to go, and a copy of my transcripts. Due to random beaucracy (I was a day late on my tuition payment for February), my transcripts were held until I completed the March payment. As soon as these were released and recieved by IES Chicago, I got an acceptance e-mail.
In addition to the forms I had to fill out, my mother apparently had to fill out a waiver and an agreement that she was letting me study abroad, as well as an emergency contact sheet. Funny how even though I'm an adult, legally my school sees to it that I have my parent's permission before I leave, but my mom told me it was because I'm still listed as an dependent on her taxes. At the end of the day, that makes a lot of sense, I suppose. Still, IES doesn't seem to mind if you do not wish for your parents to recieve certain information, as I'll detail later.

Post-Acceptance

I received my email of acceptance to the program on Friday, March 13 at 11:00 pm EST. Interesting, I suppose, that it was allegedly sent by my IES Adviser Beth Eustis in Boston, but, I suppose it could have technically been from Japan...? I guess it doesn't really matter. Haha. I was told I had until April 3rd to accept my...er...acceptance by simply filling out a form on the IES website (if I did not attend a partner school, I would have needed to submit a $500 deposit by that date. Partner schools pay the deposit for you but if you withdraw, you have to fork the cash over to the school).
To tell the truth, when I received my email, I was a little iffy on whether or not I wanted to go. Sure, I was about 90% sure that I wanted to be in Tokyo next semester, but there was still a little bit of doubt in my mind. So, I waited and thought about it over the weekend and on my way back home from Spring Break. I finally decided and submitted my acceptance form on Tuesday and started going through the other forms, which show up under the "admitted Students" section on the IES website.

Forms
I actually found somethings about the forms very interesting. One thing I didn't realize is how many I had to send in- a housing form, a language placement form, an arrival form, a bank form, an immunization form, a physical report, a Certificate of Eligibility, a Passport form, a Waiver, a Field Placement Form, and a Digital Headshot. About half of these you can submit online, but the other half are mailed in. The most interesting things I found about the forms are:

• By June 1st, you must submit a letter showing you have at least 6,000 USD in your bank account.
• If you have 2+ Years of Japanese, almost everything has to be filled out in Japanese, including your resume
• Unless you go with Independent Housing, there will be a curfew, either 11pm, 12pm, or undetermined.
  
• You have to have your physical at most 6 months before departure
• When it comes to the visa, they do most of the dirty work for you.
  
• You are strongly advised to arrive on the program start date due to Visa dates. EXACTLY on it.
• You are not allowed to add/drop courses after the start of the semester.

So, I went through and filled out what I could ( I was slightly limited, as I have misplaced my passport. Ugh.)

Service at IES
So, I had a few questions, as I was considering staying for the entire year (I haven't decided as of this post) and I contacted IES directly. My adviser didn't pick up when I called (about 1 pm on Tuesday), so I left her a voicemail and sent her an e-mail. Practically within 5 minutes, she got back to me and answered my questions. I was floored.
What floored me even more, though, was a call at 9pm last night from IES Tokyo themselves, congratulating me on my acceptance and asking if I had any questions. I, sadly, didn't, but was very impressed with their dedication to customer satisfaction. They encouraged me to get a hold of them if I came across any problems and I thanked them profusely.

I am truly looking forward to my year in Japan, being in the care of IES.